Stephen Downing case

The Stephen Downing case involved the conviction and imprisonment in 1974 of a 17-year-old council worker, Stephen Downing, for the murder of a 32-year-old legal secretary, Wendy Sewell, in the town of Bakewell in the Peak District in Derbyshire, central England.

Following a campaign by a local newspaper, his conviction was overturned in 2002, after Downing had served 27 years in prison. The case is thought to be the longest miscarriage of justice in British legal history, and attracted worldwide media attention.

Wendy Sewell was attacked, in Bakewell Cemetery, at lunchtime on 12 September 1973. A witness, Charles Carman, saw her enter the cemetery at about 12.50 pm. She was beaten around the head with the handle of a pickaxe, and sexually assaulted - her trousers, pants, plimsolls and parts of her bra had been removed. She died from her injuries in Chesterfield Royal Hospital two days later.

The 17-year-old cemetery groundskeeper, Stephen Downing, was the primary suspect. He told police that he had found Sewell lying on the ground, covered in blood, and that her blood got on his clothes because she shook her head. Despite having learning difficulties and a reading age of 11, he was arrested, questioned for nine hours without a solicitor present, and signed a confession.

Downing's trial took place between 13 and 15 February 1974 at the Crown Court at Nottingham before Mr Justice Nield and a jury. He pleaded not guilty. A medical expert, the forensic scientist Norman Lee, gave evidence that the blood found on the accused could only have been present if he had been responsible for the assault. Lee described this evidence as a Textbook example [...] which might be expected on the clothing of the assailant. No full transcript of the trial exists, but it is known that, in summing up, the judge drew attention to Downing’s admission during the trial of having indecently assaulted Sewell as she lay injured in the cemetery. (He later denied that he made those admissions during the trial).

By a unanimous verdict, the jury found Downing guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure (indefinitely), with a stipulation that he should serve a minimum of ten years.

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